SoKor: No war on Korean peninsula
VLADIVOSTOK (Reuters) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in said yesterday there will be no war on the Korea peninsula, even though tensions have risen considerably since North Korea’s latest nuclear test less than a week ago.
Moon said yesterday he was having discussions with the leaders of Russia, Japan and the United States about how to resolve the crisis over North Korea’s weapons program.
Speaking at an economic forum in the Russian Pacific port of Vladivostok, Moon said those leaders need to discuss proposed new sanctions on North Korea, which he said were intended to achieve a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday called on world powers to press Pyongyang to abide by its UN obligations, saying the crisis around North Korea requires quick action.
“North Korea must fulfill all UN resolutions, abandon its nuclear and missile programs,” Abe said.
Meanwhile, South Korean protesters clashed with thousands of police over the deployment of a defense system aimed at countering North Korean missile attacks, while China and the United States discussed options to rein in Pyongyang.
The United States wants the UN Security Council to impose an oil embargo on North Korea, ban its exports of textiles and the hiring of North Korean labourers abroad, and subject leader Kim Jong-un to an asset freeze and travel ban, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
Pressure from Washington has ratcheted up since North Korea conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test on Sunday. That test, along with a series of missile launches, showed Pyongyang was close to achieving its goal of developing a powerful nuclear weapon that could reach the United States.